The midday sky, which should have been bright, was shrouded in thick gray clouds, blocking sunlight and casting the shattered Tokyo in a grim atmosphere.
Amid the devastation, in what was once the bustling Shibuya intersection, stood two figures. They were anomalies that had transcended human limits.
The first was a muscular giant with gray skin, brimming with fiery rage. It was Heracles, the Great Hero of Greece. In his sturdy right hand, he tightly gripped his massive, primitive Sword-Axe.
Opposite him stood a young man with white hair, clad in tattered, blood-and-dust-stained clothes. He appeared fragile compared to his opponent, yet his presence exuded confidence. In his hand, Terminus Est, the Holy Sword from another world, gleamed softly with silvery light.
"ROAAARRRRR!!!"
Heracles charged forward. His speed was absurd for such a massive body; each step created small explosions in the shattered ground.
*SWOOSH!*
His Sword-Axe swung downward, a vertical slash aimed at cleaving Charlie and the ground beneath him in two.
*CLANG!*
A harsh metallic clang shook the dust-laden air. The resulting shockwave swept through the surrounding rubble, sending shards of stone and glass flying like dry leaves. But this time, Charlie's body was only slightly pushed back. His face remained calm, showing no trace of struggle. He had blocked the Great Hero's lethal attack without shifting his feet an inch.
*CLANG!* *CLANG!* *CLANG!*
*CLANG!* *CLANG!* *CLANG!*
Heracles gave no pause. His attacks came like a storm—vertical slashes, diagonal cuts from left and right—each carrying enough force to slice through thick steel or topple a tower.
Yet Charlie parried them all with one-handed movements. His body barely moved; only his wrist and hand rotated with perfect precision, producing a rapid series of metallic clangs like a war machine operating at peak capacity.
*CLANG!* *CLANG!* *CLANG!*
Each weapon clash not only produced sound but also bursts of energy. Pure energy waves from Terminus Est struck the ruins behind Heracles, blasting apart the remaining standing walls.
Waiting for a pause in the barrage, Charlie found a micro-gap as Heracles pulled back his Sword-Axe for a horizontal slash.
*SWOOSH!*
Terminus Est's silver blade moved in an upward arc, countering with a swift, deadly swing aimed at beheading Heracles.
"GRRR...!"
Heracles' battle-honed instincts from the Age of the Gods and Mind's Eye warned him.
Instead of parrying with his weapon or hand, he did the unexpected: he released his Sword-Axe. The heavy weapon fell freely, but before it could touch the ground, Heracles' massive body moved.
*SWISH!*
With agility impossible for his size, Heracles performed a wild acrobatic maneuver, bending backward until his spine curved unnaturally. The gleaming Terminus Est flashed mere centimeters from his dark, muscular neck.
*SWISH!*
As the Holy Sword passed the safe threshold, Heracles' tree-trunk-like leg snapped forward. This wasn't just a kick; it was a deadly strike wrapped in Berserker-Class physical strength—the strongest physical class among the Seven Classes.
*BAM!*
The kick struck Charlie with fortress-gate-shattering force. His body was flung from the ground like a ragdoll, soaring dozens of meters through the air before crashing into the earth, carving a long furrow from the impact.
Without wasting time, even before the dust from his kick settled, Heracles was on the move. His massive hand snatched his Sword-Axe just before it hit the ground, and he charged toward Charlie, still sprawled, giving his opponent no time to breathe or rise.
"Cough... Cough..."
Charlie coughed, tasting blood seeping between his teeth. The pain from that fortress-toppling kick gnawed at every nerve. His ribs were likely cracked, and the bruise on his chest felt like burning coals. Yet, he suppressed the pain silently.
"Even after my swordsmanship breakthrough, it doesn't mean I can win easily."
He gazed at Heracles' swelling silhouette through the dust, now charging toward him.
"Winning or losing can't be fully determined until you fight. So, I don't know if I'll ultimately win—but I can guarantee I'll fight to win. After all, I must not lose."
Yes, he must not lose. That resolve burned in his chest, dispelling pain and fatigue.
Without fully healing his wounds, Charlie rose from the ground. Blood still dripped from cuts on his shoulder and arm, but his eyes were sharp and focused. He met Heracles' frenzied charge head-on.
*CLANG!* *CLANG!* *CLANG!*
*CLANG!* *CLANG!* *CLANG!*
He parried three consecutive Sword-Axe slashes with Terminus Est, each clash sending throbbing pain through his already aching arms. But this time, something was different. Instead of merely reacting, Charlie decided to dictate the fight.
Instantly, he synchronized his muscles. Every fiber, every tendon tensed and released their full power in unison, focused on a single motion.
"Vacuum Slash!"
*SWOOSH!*
In an instant, he unleashed an invisible, rapid slash with instant acceleration from the start. Terminus Est's silver blade flashed in an arc nearly imperceptible to the naked eye, so fast it created a vacuum in its wake. There was no sound, only the brutal displacement of air.
*PU-CHI!* *PU-CHI!* *PU-CHI!*
Despite his Mind's Eye, Heracles couldn't parry this attack. The slash was too fast, too unexpected, and its acceleration too instantaneous. It was an attack beyond his reaction capabilities.
Heracles' mighty body was torn into several pieces, cleanly sliced like fruit under a sharp knife. The light in his eyes extinguished for the third time.
"Nine."
*WHOOSH!*
Seizing the brief moment, Charlie didn't waste it. He used Shukuchi, a high-speed movement skill, to dart away from the fallen Heracles, maintaining a safe distance.
Once at a safe range, he activated Dia Fratel, channeling magical essence into his wounds, healing strained muscles and the bruise on his chest.
Charlie watched Heracles' body regenerate at a terrifying speed. He would rise again soon.
"No choice. To ensure victory against Heracles, I must mimic Artoria Alter's fighting style."
His mind drifted to a scene from Fate/Stay Night: Heaven's Feel II Lost Butterfly, where Artoria Pendragon Alter faced Heracles.
No matter how powerful a Noble Phantasm defeated Heracles, its strength would be neutralized by God Hand upon revival. Artoria Alter's solution was simple yet brutal: amplify every attack to Noble Phantasm-level power using Mana Burst, making each strike resemble a devastating Noble Phantasm.
Thus, Artoria Alter easily cornered and defeated Heracles in direct combat, expending his lives one by one, before delivering the final blow with Excalibur Morgan's True Name release.
"Artoria Alter was backed by near-infinite Mana from the Holy Grail. For me, that's not an issue. If she could spam her Noble Phantasm Excalibur's True Name release like it was market vegetables thanks to the Grail, I can too."
The difference lay in the energy source. Mages in the Planar World: Danmachi used Mind Power as their energy source for magic. Meanwhile, Charlie drew from an energy source from the Planar World: Seirei no Gensouki.
He possessed the skill Infinite Essence, granting access to a truly limitless energy source. He would never run out of fuel for his attacks.
"The second condition is Mana Burst. With Spirit Art, mimicking its mechanics isn't difficult."
Mana Burst was essentially performance enhancement by channeling vast amounts of Magical Energy into a weapon and body, then releasing it explosively. Simply put, it was like creating a jet-thrust effect by expelling Magical Energy.
"Huuu... Let's begin."
Charlie took a deep breath, exhaling slowly.
The perfect combination of his Six Eyes, granting absolute energy control, and Spirit Art, allowing him to channel will and mental imagery to alter surrounding reality.
Together, they enabled Charlie to mimic Mana Burst with flawless precision.
*ZINGGGG—!*
A high-pitched hum shattered the silence. A blinding white-blue flash suddenly radiated from Terminus Est's blade. The light was no longer calm silver but an explosive white-blue, condensing like liquid.
The air around the blade vibrated and distorted, heated by this immense energy release.
This was the effect of Charlie's version of Mana Burst, achieved through Spirit Art and Six Eyes!